Sustanible Power

As we get more technically advanced we have increased the need for a cheap sustainable source of power generation

What is Nuclear Power?

Nuclear technology uses the energy released by splitting the atoms of certain elements. It was first developed in the 1940s, and during the Second World War research initially focussed on producing bombs by splitting the atoms of particular isotopes of either uranium or plutonium.In the 1950s attention turned to the peaceful purposes of nuclear fission, notably for power generation. Today, the world produces as much electricity from nuclear energy as it did from all sources combined in 1960. Civil nuclear power can now boast over 15,500 reactor years of experience and supplies almost 11.5% of global electricity needs, from reactors in 31 countries. In fact, through regional grids, many more than those countries use nuclear-generated power.Many countries have also built research reactors to provide a source of neutron beams for scientific research and the production of medical and industrial isotopes.Today, only eight countries are known to have a nuclear weapons capability. By contrast, 56 operate about 240 civil research reactors, over one thrid of these in developing countries. Now 31 countries host over 430 commercial nuclear power reactors with a total installed capacity of over 370,000 MWe (see linked table for up to date figures). This is more than three times the total generating capacity of France or Germany from all sources. About 70 further nuclear power reactors are under construction, equivalent to 20% of existing capacity, while over 160 are firmly planned, equivalent to half of present capacity.Sixteen countries depend on nuclear power for at least a quarter of their electricity. France gets around three quarters of its power from nuclear energy, while Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia and Ukraine get one third or more. South Korea, Bulgaria and Finland normally get more than 30% of their power from nuclear energy, while in the USA, UK, Spain and Russia almost one fifth is from nuclear. Japan is used to relying on nuclear power for more than one quarter of its electricity and is expected to return to that level. Among countries which do not host nuclear power plants, Italy and Denmark get almost 10% of their power from nuclear.Plus the entire United States Navy uses nuclear power in all there ships and subs.